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The model number you gave did not include a monitor. Can you give details about the monitor itself like manufacturer and model number? Is the monitor an older style big and deep or an LCD panel style? The symptom you describe seems typical of some kind of electrical protection disconnecting power to the monitor same way as a circuit breaker in your house.

Hold the CTRL key, ALT key, and press the up arrow key on your keyboard simultaneously. This might resolve the problem right away. If it doesn't, continue to the next steps. Try to navigate to the side of your taskbar opposite from your Start menu. Click the small arrow leading away from the small panel with the clock. Look for an ATI, nVidia or other icon related to your graphics card. Look at the box your graphics card came in if you cannot identify the icon. The box usually has the image somewhere in the design. If you do not identify the icon at all, look through your operator's manual for your graphics card to see what the tray icon looks like. Right-click the graphics tray icon and click "Rotation Settings." Turn the monitor's display around as you wish. Choose zero degrees as your angle if your monitor is upright. or

If that does not work: Right-click on empty Desktop > Graphics Options > Rotation. or Press "Ctrl-Alt" and an arrow key (left, right, up or down) to rotate the screen. Continue pressing the hotkeys and arrow keys until you reach the desired rotation. This works with most video drivers on Windows XP. If it doesn't, Click "Start," then "Control Panel," then "Display," then the "Settings" tab. Click the "Advanced" button. Check for an "Orientation" option. Select your desired orientation. Hope this helps.

1) Whatever monitor you have that has a VGA cable, plug it into the blue VGA port on the graphics card.

(There are VGA monitors {CRT} that resemble a small TV. VGA cable is usually attached. There are also LCD flat screens that have a VGA connector, for a VGA cable, and may also have both a VGA, and a DVI connector.

To digress for a moment;VGA is Analog. It uses an Analog video signal.DVI is digital. It uses a Digital video signal.

A computer naturally puts out a digital video signal. This digital signal has to be converted by the computer, into analog for an analog monitor. This slows the graphics process down. This is one reason it is best to use digital )

2) Plug a monitor with a DVI cable into the white DVI port on the graphics card.

3) Turn the monitors on.

4) Turn the Inspiron 531s on.

5) When Windows has loaded, right-click on an empty area of your desktop computer screen.Now left-click on Properties at the bottom of the list.Left-click on the Settings tab.

6) You are now looking at a small window that has two monitor icons in it.Monitor 1 icon, and monitor 2 icon.

Monitor 1 icon is your Primary Display.Monitor 2 icon will be for the Secondary Display you are adding.

Note how monitor 1 icon is sitting to the Left, and monitor icon 2 is sitting to the Right.This is how your monitors are supposed to be arranged on your computer desk.

If the second monitor is on the Left on your computer desk, you need to move the icons around.Move monitor 2 icon to the Left.

Left-click on the icon, hold the left mouse key down, and drag the monitor 2 icon over to the left side of monitor 1 icon. (All the way over, or it will snap back to where it was)

It may matter to you how your monitors are arranged. It may not. Once you read the following it may help you decide.

7) Left-click on monitor icon 2 if you have not already done so.Go down to where it states, "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor"

8) Left-click once in the empty square, to the left of Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor.

9) Now left-click on Apply at the bottom Right corner.

10) Finally left-click on OK at the bottom Left corner.

You should now see your desktop screen on both monitors.

When using the internet on both monitors, you have to drag the screen from the Primary monitor to the Secondary monitor.

Go to the left side of the screen. Left-click right on the edge of the blue frame. Hold the left mouse key down after you click, and drag the screen across to the left.

Doesn't work?Go to the right side, click on the blue frame, and drag the screen to the right.

This is why it may matter how the monitors are arranged on your computer desk.

It's kind of eerie your first time dragging the screen across.

You will also find out why it is best to use two similar monitors, when using dual monitors. The pixel resolution is different for both monitors, if they are different from each other.

Most likely a setting with the video adapter. Check in the system tray (by your clock) for an icon for your video card. If you right click on the icon, it may give you an option to rotate the screen. If you can not find the icon there, check in the control panel. Another method to find it will be to right click on the desktop, click on properties, click on settings, click on advanced, and then look for a tab that says something like Intel Graphics, Nvidia Graphics, etc. On that page you should find a setting to rotate the screen.

The Optiplex GX260 is limited in it's graphics card upgrading, due to,

1) The limited size inside the computer case, if the Optiplex GX260 is a Small Form Factor, (SFF), or Small Desktop computer. The Small Mini-Tower may also be fairly limited because of size constraints.

2) Uses AGP graphics cards.However will use either 4X or 8X AGP graphics cards.(AGP 8X being the better technology)

3) Power SupplyIt's a 200 Watt supply, probably with a 10 Amp, 12 Volt power rail.With one of the more powerful AGP 8X graphics cards out there, you probably will be alright, but the age of the power supply is what concerns me.

With the added load of an AGP 8X graphics card, it could cause the power supply to fail. Perhaps not right away, but probably right in the middle of a killer game.

(CPU stands for Central Processing Unit, or Microprocessor, or Processor)

When dealing with Integrated Graphics such as is on your motherboard now, the Southbridge chip handles it. (Chip, and Chipset are slang terms for I.C., or Integrated Circuit)

The Northbridge chip on the Optiplex GX260 is an Intel 845G. The Southbridge chip is an Intel ICH4.

Just about any AGP 8X graphics card, will S-M-O-K-E the integrated graphics you have now.

Also Integrated Graphics has to use some of the System Resources. Some of the Processor, and Ram Memory resources.With a dedicated graphics card, it has it's own Processor, and Ram Memory.(GPU - Graphics Processing Unit, and graphics ram memory)

This frees up the System Resources for the computer, and allows better graphics.

The SFF, and Small Desktop GX260 will require using a half-height graphics card. Not as tall as a normal graphics card.

The Small Mini-Tower may also. The computer case size is measured at the Outside edges. This doesn't give you an accurate measurement, of Inside the computer case.

For this type of GX260, you will have to physically measure from the AGP graphics expansion slot, (The small black slot above the white PCI slots, and below the Processor socket), to the inside edge of the computer case.

Determine whether the graphics card has to be half-height, or full height.

In an added comment I will list three AGP 8X graphics cards examples.One in a half-height configuration, two in a full height configuration.

Right click on My Computer, choose Manage, select Device Manager, click on the + beside display adapters. Right click on the your graphics card and choose properties. Look under the Driver tab and you'll be presented with the driver information for your card.

It shouldn't make any difference which monitor you are connecting to any computer. In fact, I am running a 19" HP Flat Panel on my Dell Dimension 2400 right now. It is NOT a wide screen monitor as the Dell built in graphics card will not support the RESOLUTION RATIO required for the wide screen. Check what setting is "native resolution" for your monitor and see if your graphics card will support it. If not, using your old monitor, try different resolution settings. Right click on your desk top, click on properties and that should bring up the display properties box. Try a lower setting as larger settings are the ones that will give you a black screen. It will probably give you a smaller picture on your old monitor, or perhaps smaller or larger icons on the desk top. Accept the new settings, turn off your computer and switch monitors, and turn your computer back on. If you get a picture, but it does not fill the whole screen or the icons seem too large or small, then go back into properties from the desktop and try a different resolution ratio until the picture seems correct.